Rags To Royals (Royal #1: Book 1) | ✔

8

-• fall from the grace •-

I roam the palace corridors exploring all. The experience is magical. There are portraits of Kings and Queens hanging on the walls, chandeliers drooping from the ceilings, traditional wall sconces highlighting the hallways, round staircases that seem like a maze, and carpets that make my feet light and padded.

My yellow summer dress floats along with me, a very bright contrast to the ruby red carpets. I climb and descend stairs, looking inside every door that's unlocked. Since the third floor is only for the young ones, I was not afraid of disturbing someone or stumbling upon anything problematic. If that was the case, Vivaan would have already apprised me about it.

In my heist to explore the magic of the palace, I come across a large set of double doors. So huge my eyes go wide trying to fit them in my gaze. I step forward curiously and raise my hands to grip the iron bars, pushing the doors open with a force. They make a loud sound which echoes throughout the empty corridors.

My mouth drops at the sight of my discovery. Like Alice in Wonderland, I'm set back in shock of the world I stumble into.

Books.

Everywhere.

Residing in the hundreds of shelves that reach high until the ceilings. I walk in carefully, trying not to make any sound. The void of silence grows as soon as I start to hear my own heartbeat, slamming hard into my chest. I trail my fingers on the shelves, over the spines of the books, and venture deeper into the huge library.

It must be the same library Vivaan told me about. True to his words, it is magnificent. I don't even want to start counting the books, they will be easily over ten thousand.

There are sections the books are categorised into. From science fiction to romance, almost every genre exists in this library. I search for the history section, curious about the late King Devendra Singh Chauhan my father told me about in the car.

When I finally find the history section, the books are placed according to the century they narrate. The sixteenth is high up, making it almost impossible for me to reach it with my hand. I blow out a breath from my mouth, wondering if there's any ladder here. I look around for a while and find one in the lounge section.

I go to pick it up and gasp at its weight. It is tremendously heavy. I grab the side bars and start to drag it towards the history section. I have to stop after sometime to catch my breath. Mumma was right. I'm too unhealthy for my age. Maybe skipping PE lectures did me more bad than good.

Wiping my sweaty hands on my dress, I resume dragging the ladder. When I finally fix it against the shelf where books regarding sixteenth century history are kept, my eyes go wide realising the height I'll have to reach.

I huff pathetically and climb the ladder, chanting internally to not look down. Because if I do, it's safe to say I'll break a bone or two and land my ass in the hospital.

"Finally," I smile at my achievement, now face to face with the thirteenth shelf. I look through the books and read the spines, looking for the ones about the late King of Jaigarh.

History of Jaigarh.

I pull out the book and place it on the flat surface meant to stand on. Then I look through the other titles.

Queen Ahilya Bai Chauhan.

I haul it out and stack it on top of the previous one.

The Ruler of all Directions.

There goes another in my collection.

By the end of my little to be read (but never actually read) list, I've seven thick books and myself at the mercy of gravity, waiting to be taken down the ladder and into the safety of support. I pick them all, hooking my chin on my arm that hugs the books to my chest and with one hand gripping the ladder, I start to slowly descend.